March 2015 – Page 2 – NBA Blog

Warriors clinch the best record in the Western Conference

Warriors clinch the best record in the Western Conference

The Golden State Warriors have clinched the best record in the Western Conference for the 2014-15 season following tonight’s 108-95 road victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, improving to 60-13 and securing the best record in the conference for the first time since 1975-76. In doing so, Golden State established a new single-season franchise wins record, earning 60 wins in a single campaign for the first time in the team’s 69-year history, besting the previous wins record of 59 set in 1975-76.

The Warriors are the 70th team in NBA history to amass 60 wins in a season, becoming just the 13th team ever to reach the 60-win plateau through 73 games. By virtue of clinching the best record in the conference, Golden State will be the No. 1 seed in the West in the upcoming NBA Playoffs, granting the Warriors home-court advantage through the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors are slated to make their third consecutive postseason appearance after finishing sixth in the conference in both 2012-13 (47-35) and 2013-14 (51-31).

Hot Rod Hundley passes away

Hot Rod Hundley passes away

Longtime broadcaster Hot Rod Hundley, the beloved voice of the Utah Jazz from 1974-2009, passed away Friday at his home in Phoenix, Ariz. area surrounded by family. He broadcast many of the most memorable moments in Jazz history, calling 3,051 Jazz games in three-plus decades.

“Hot Rod was the voice of the Utah Jazz for 35 years and his voice was synonymous with Jazz radio,” said Gail Miller, owner of the franchise. “The expressions he used throughout the game broadcasts are legendary. He had the unique ability to make the game come to life so that you felt as though you could see what was happening on the floor when listening to him call the games. Rod was a very special talent and will be missed by our family as well as Jazz fans everywhere. Our thoughts and condolences are with the Hundley family.”

The only member of the original New Orleans Jazz staff to remain with the team for its first 35 seasons, he joined the organization prior to the expansion team’s inaugural season in 1974-75 and moved with the team when it relocated to Salt Lake City in 1979-80. A banner hangs in the rafters of EnergySolutions Arena honoring the 3,051 games he called during his 35-year career. In 2010, the team dedicated the media center at the arena to Hot Rod, outlining his legendary career from his days at West Virginia University to his calls as a Jazz broadcaster.

“Rod was a true professional, a great personal friend and remains a legend in the NBA broadcast industry,” said Utah Jazz President Randy Rigby. “From his start with the franchise in New Orleans in 1974 when the Jazz were an expansion team, Hot Rod built a fan base that remains unmatchable. With his signature ‘You Gotta Love it, Baby!’ to ‘With a gentle push and a mild arc the old cow hide globe hit home,’ Rod will be remembered as a true scholar of the game and will always remain a member of the Jazz family.”

Hundley spent the first 31 years of his Jazz career as the play-by-play voice of Jazz radio/television simulcasts before becoming the radio voice for his final four seasons.

The latest Donald Sterling crap

The latest Donald Sterling crap

You probably don’t care about Donald Sterling anymore. But thanks to the beauty of the Internet, it’s quick and easy to share the latest on him anyway. Here’s Reuters reporting:

The woman behind the downfall of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling painted two conflicting portraits of him in court on Friday, saying he was a kind, generous mentor and father figure to her but was mean-spirited to others.

V. Stiviano, 32, also testified that the 80-year-old billionaire real estate mogul spent far more time with her and members of her family during the two and a half years she spent as his personal assistant, driver and confidante than he did with his own wife and children.

“We were so interconnected on a level that was more spiritual. He became my everything and I became his all,” she said, describing their bond as “love at first sight,” though she repeated under oath that the relationship was never sexual.”

Enes Kanter playing well for Thunder

Enes Kanter playing well for Thunder

Here’s the Oklahoman discussing Thunder center Enes Kanter, who is playing very well and appears to be a keeper for OKC — if the team can make it happen:

Enes Kanter has been with the Thunder only five weeks. In that time, he’s wowed observers with his inside play on offense, the kind of play that hasn’t been seen in the state since Big Country.

The soon-to-be free agent is also causing some fans to suffer some heartburn about his future with the team. Fears are percolating that the Thunder may not be able to keep its new inside presence past this season. While you never know what crazy events could unfold, the Thunder is in position to offer Kanter long-term security if he wants it.

Kanter is in the last season of his four-year rookie scale contract, so the Thunder will have the ability to make him a restricted free agent. All that requires is tendering what’s called a Qualifying Offer, which is a 1-year offer that, in Kanter’s case, would be worth over $7.4 million. As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the Thunder will do this.

Bulls finally getting healthier

Bulls finally getting healthier

Derrick Rose remains out, the 44-29 Chicago Bulls, who recently clinched a spot in the 2015 NBA playoffs, are finally getting healthier. Here’s ESPN Chicago reporting:

The Chicago Bulls are getting healthy at seemingly the right time of the season.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t want to hear about that, though.

“I don’t get wrapped up in the talk,” Thibodeau said after practice on Friday. “I want to see performance. I want to see the work go into it. I know how you win. We have to be more concerned with the process of how we’re approaching it and are we putting the work in to give ourselves the best chance possible. Talk is talk. I want to see action.”

Some of the optimism surrounding the Bulls is based on action, especially in the case of Jimmy Butler. He scored 23 points on 7-of-8 shooting Wednesday in his second game back after missing three weeks because of an elbow injury.

Forward Taj Gibson is also slowly getting back into form after missing nearly a month with a left ankle injury.

Kevin Durant will have bone graft, out for 4-6 more months

Kevin Durant will have bone graft, out for 4-6 more months

The Oklahoma City Thunder released the following statement on behalf of Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti regarding Kevin Durant:

“As we communicated last week, Kevin was going to use this time to engage in consultation and evaluation regarding the persistent soreness in his right foot at this stage of his rehabilitation. As part of this process, Kevin and Thunder personnel traveled to two additional specialists this past week; Dr. Martin O’Malley in New York City and Dr. James Nunley at Duke University. These in-person consults were designed to further supplement the previous evaluations of Dr. Bob Anderson. Several conference calls and discussions amongst the specialist team concluded that, while the majority of the soreness in Kevin’s foot was related to continued inflammation of the cuboid bone and would subside with rest, the evaluation process also determined that the Jones fracture of the fifth metatarsal, which had shown significant healing previously, was now demonstrating signs of regression.

With the focus of this process being aimed entirely on Kevin’s long term health and stability, it was the consensus of the specialists team, in addition to a collective decision by Kevin, his representation and the Thunder, that to address the setback of the fracture site, a bone graft procedure would be the most proactive and recommended approach. The bone graft is the standard procedure for the five to eight percent of Jones fracture surgeries that do not initially have success or experience setbacks sometime within the recovery period. While everyone is disappointed that Kevin falls into that group, we are encouraged that the bone graft procedure has historically demonstrated long-term health and stability.

Dr. O’Malley will perform the bone graft surgery early next week in New York. He has extensive bone grafting experience amongst athletes and has been consulting on the case throughout. Kevin will miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season and is expected to return to basketball activities in the next four to six months.”

Nets sign Earl Clark to 10-day contract

Nets sign Earl Clark to 10-day contract

The Brooklyn Nets have signed forward Earl Clark to a 10-day contract, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today.

Clark (6’10”, 234) is a five-year NBA veteran who was originally selected with the 14th pick of the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. Clark, 27, has seen action with the Suns (2009-10), Orlando Magic (2010-12), Los Angeles Lakers (2012-13), Cleveland Cavaliers (2013-14) and New York Knicks (2014). In 251 career games (54 starts), Clark has averaged 4.4 points on 40.4 percent shooting, including 33.1 percent from three-point range, and 3.0 rebounds in 14.1 minutes per game. His most productive season came with the Lakers in 2012-13, when Clark recorded career-highs for games played (59), starts (36), points per game (7.3), rebounds per game (5.5), assists per game (1.1) and minutes per game (23.1). The Plainfield, N.J. native has also appeared in 13 playoff games (one start) with the Suns, Magic and Lakers, posting career playoff averages of 3.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game. Most recently, Clark appeared in 19 games with the Shandong Flaming Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association during the 2014-15 season, where he averaged 26.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in 32.9 minutes per game.

Prior to his NBA career, Clark spent three years at Louisville, where he helped lead the Cardinals to a Big East title and their first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in his third and final season (2008-09). In 104 career collegiate games, Clark averaged 10.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in 26.7 minutes per game.

Wizards sign Will Bynum to 10-day contract, waive Toure` Murry

Wizards sign Will Bynum to 10-day contract, waive Toure’ Murry

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Will Bynum to a 10-day contract. The team has also waived Toure’ Murry.

Bynum (6-0, 185) has played seven seasons with Golden State and Detroit appearing in 353 career regular season games while averaging 8.2 points, 3.3 assists and 1.6 assists in 18.5 minutes per game. Undrafted out of Georgia Tech in 2005, Bynum enjoyed his best season in 2009-10 for the Detroit Pistons when he averaged career highs with 10.0 points and 4.5 assists per game. Bynum appeared in 30 games this season for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association where he averaged 22.3 points, 7.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds while shooting .564 from the field.

Murry appeared in three games for the Wizards and averaged 1.5 points in 4.3 minutes per game.

Jazz sign forward Chris Johnson to multi-year deal

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed forward Chris Johnson to a multi-year contract.

Johnson re-joins the team following a 10-day contract with the Jazz from Jan. 28 through Feb. 6, during which time he appeared in two games and averaged 7.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 19.0 minutes per game.

The 24-year-old Johnson (6-6, 201, Dayton) most recently spent a pair of 10-day contracts with the Milwaukee Bucks (March 6-26), seeing action in eight contests and averaging 3.9 points and 1.4 rebounds in 16.0 minutes. He began the 2014-15 with the Philadelphia 76ers, where he averaged 6.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 20.8 minutes in nine games (two starts) before being waived on Nov. 15. For the season, Johnson has played in a total of 19 games (two starts) and averages 5.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.9 steals in 18.6 minutes per game.

For his NBA career, Johnson has spent portions of three seasons with the Jazz, Bucks and 76ers (2014-15), Boston Celtics (2013-14) and Memphis Grizzlies (2012-13), appearing in 67 NBA games (two starts) and owns averages of 5.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in 18.6 minutes per game.

Prior to being called up by the Jazz and becoming the 15th D-League Call-Up in team history (fourth this season), Johnson had also appeared in 14 games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League in 2014-15 and was selected as a 2014 NBA D-League All-Star and named to the 2015 NBA D-League Showcase Second Team. Following his 10-day with the Jazz, Johnson returned to the Vipers for two additional games, and appeared in a total of 16 D-League games (all starts) this season, averaging 20.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 34.6 minutes per contest. He scored in double figures on 15 occasions and recorded 20-plus points in 10 games, including one 30-point contest. Johnson has appeared in 75 games (58 starts) for Rio Grande Valley over three seasons and owns averages of 15.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 steals in 31.3 minutes.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Johnson played four seasons at Dayton (2008-12). He earned Atlantic 10 All-Championship Team honors following his junior season and was the 2010 Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player recipient. He was not selected in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Jazz waive Ian Clark

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has waived guard Ian Clark. Following the move, the Jazz roster now stands at 14 players.

Clark (6-3, 180, Belmont) appeared in 23 games as a reserve this season for the Jazz, averaging 1.9 points in 7.0 minutes per game. He also appeared in seven games (six starts) while on assignment with the Jazz’s exclusively owned and operated NBA Development League team, the Idaho Stampede, where he averaged 14.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 32.0 minutes per contest. The second-year guard appeared in a total of 46 games over two seasons with the Jazz, owning a career scoring average of 2.4 points in 7.2 minutes per game after originally joining Utah as an undrafted rookie free agent on July 29, 2013.